1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stapler apparatus which is adapted to be disposable in its entirety after a predisposed set of staples have been individually dispensed therefrom.
In particular, the present invention relates to a stapler apparatus including a staple magazine which is adapted to be non-refillable and is provided with a single set of staples for dispensing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the most commonly employed articles for use in office situations, as well as for use in the home, is a stapler device. Heretofore, a wide variety of different stapler constructions has been suggested and employed for use, all of which constructions are marked by the common feature of including a staple magazine which is adapted to be refilled such that when the magazine is empty the user has to insert a fresh set of staples for use.
Illustrative of prior art staplers are the following: the "RAISER STRUCTURE FOR STAPLING MACHINES" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,706,292 issued in 1955 to Moen; the "STAPLE DRIVING DEVICE" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,824,307 issued in 1958 to Marano; the "COMBINATION STAPLER TOOLS" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,859,443 issued in 1958 to Jopp; and the "UPRIGHT STAPLER" disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,951 issued in 1976 to Thornhill.
As mentioned above, previous stapler constructions have all been refillable. Such refillable feature, however, presents the following problems. For refilling the stapler, staples are conventially provided in joined together elongated sets which are adapted to be inserted and aligned within the staple magazine of the stapler. Such staple sets come in various lengths, and ofttimes the sets must be broken and/or pieced together to form different lengths thereof to accommodate different sized staplers and staple magazine constructions. Because the sets of staples comprise staples which are joined together so as to be easily individually dispensed within the staple magazine, the staple sets are thereby easily broken into smaller segments and are consequently awkward to handle. Indeed, in many instances, upon attempting to insert and align the set of staples within the staple magazine, the staples will become undesirably separated at various points, thus greatly complicating the entire procedure and sometimes resulting in waste pieces of staple sets which are too small to be easily inserted into the staple magazine. Further, because various stapler devices are adapted to house and dispense a variety of different sized staples, problems can also be encountered in purchasing and installing the proper sized staples.
As a result of the foregoing considerations, many people find refilling of a stapler to be a nuisance. As mentioned above, the staples are ofttimes difficult and troublesome to refill into the magazine, and indeed it is possible to inflict injury to oneself by the sharp points on the staples. Further, especially in smaller stapler constructions, alignment of the staples within the magazine is difficult and many staples are sometimes wasted in attempting to align the staples and testing the alignment with trial stapler operations.
The present invention eliminates the many problems associated with prior art stapler devices by providing a stapler apparatus which is completely self-contained in that it has predisposed therein a set of staples for individual dispensing. When the set of staples has been completely dispensed, the user has merely to discard the apparatus and thereafter employ another stapler apparatus in accordance with the invention. In addition, because the staples are predisposed within the magazine and are aligned therein, former refill alignment operations are no longer necessary. Thus, the troublesome features formerly associated with refillable staplers are entirely avoided, and the user is provided with a far more conveniently employed stapling tool.